This week, I needed to visit Windsor (NSW) to do a few chores, and Roy decided he would like to tag along and see if there was any chance of an outing. He was particularly interested in a little church which he had heard about which was not too far from Windsor and hoped he might convince me to take him to see it. Although Roy has seen many Australian churches, he had not seen one quite as old as the little church in Ebenezer, the oldest in Australia.
If you would like to visit Ebenezer Church it is only about 11 kilometres from Windsor. The Church itself is located in Ebenezer, a small village outside Windsor, and is on Coromandel Road. There is a small museum and gift shop on the site, in the old School Masters House, and you can even get a delicious Devonshire Tea and sit outside overlooking the church and river while you eat. The church is also usually open so you can take a peak inside. If you would like to attend a service at the church, they are held on Sundays at 8:30am.
Ebenezer Church has an amazing story behind its construction. You might think it would have been built by the Government, or at least by a Minister who wanted a church to preach in, but it was actually built by a community. There were eight families who arrived in the colony in 1802 who had asked to be settled together and Governor King granted their request a year later by giving them grants at Portland Head (now known as Ebenezer). Grants were also given to seven other families in the same place and the fifteen families formed a strong, small community. Although the families were of several different Christian denominations, they worshipped together, often on 'Ebenezer Mount' (under a tree which is opposite the Church itself) or in each others homes. In 1808 though, they decided at a meeting in Arndells home (now Cattai National Park) that they wanted a proper Church.
All of the families pledged themselves to the building of the Church and to raising the money needed to build it by private subscription. The Church cost 400 pounds to build, and none of this money came from the Government. The Government did not provide any labour either. The Church was designed by Andrew Johnston, a member of one of the original fifteen families, and built on four acres of land donated by Owen Cavanough, another of the fifteen pioneer families.Yet another member of the pioneering families, George Hall, swam his bullocks across the river to use in hauling stone to the site. The Church is built of local stone and wood and originally had a petition inside to break it into two rooms. One was used for services, and the other was used as a school. As well as being the oldest Church in Australia, the building is also Australia's oldest extant school building!